2012 - 16-17 February: Tension between universal and regional unification of private law: The conflict between EU law and the maritime and transport law conventions

In February 2012, Erasmus School of Law and Rotterdam Institute for Shipping and Transport Law (RISTL), in cooperation with CLEER and other partners, organised a conference on an existing tension between uniform EU law and conventions of uniform private law to which EU member states are party.

The theme of this Conference is the tension, if not direct conflict, existing between uniform EU law and conventions of uniform private law to which EU member states are party, but the EU itself is not. As is illustrated by a number of cases brought before the ECJ in recent years, courts in member states are increasingly confronted with conflicts of duty in cases where uniform EU law and conven­tions of uniform maritime and transport law are of simultaneous application. For courts in member states it may sometimes appear as if the only way in which to comply with EU law is by breaking their country’s obligations under international treaties and vice versa. The conference will look into more general issues (place of EU law in the international order, constitutional law or autonomous interpretation) as well as more specific problems (possible incorporation of uniform private law conventions into EU law or particular tensions between various legal instruments).